Friday, 16 April 2010

Australian documentary on Thai royals sparks outrage

Thailand - Long Live the King

Australian ABC TV had aired a documentary film critical of the Thai royal family, titled "Thailand - Long Live the King" on Tuesday 13th April. The documentary was excellent because it had exposed the bad/negative side of Thai monarchy that has been hidden from the Thai population for more than 60 years. It is very critical of the Thai king and portrayed the crown prince, Prince Vajiralongkorn, as a playboy who love women and doesn't care much about the state affairs. The documentary had shown a footage of Prince Vajiralongkorn's third wife, the future queen, appeared topless during a birthday celebration of the Prince's dog. The Thai embassy in Australia threatened legal actions against the ABC TV and so the station had put up the following notice:

"Apologies to our regular on-line viewers but legal issues prevent us from making our recent program ‘Long Live The King’ and material associated with it available on our website. For Australian viewers however the program is available in full on iView. Transcripts are available on request."For people living outside of Australia, they can watch the video here: God Save the King of Thailand.----------------------------------------------------

Published: 16/04/2010

AFP and Bangkok Post

Thailand has protested to the Australian government over the airing of a documentary critical of the Thai royal family and warned that the broadcast could affect ties between the nations.

This 2007 picture released by the Thai Royal Bureau shows His Majesty the King waving to the crowds during his 80th birthday celebrations at the Grand Palace in Bangkok. Thailand has protested to the Australian government over the airing of a documentary critical of the Thai royal family and warned that the broadcast could affect ties between the nations.

A senior representative from the Thai embassy met with officials from Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs on Thursday to express his concern at the programme aired by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).

"The concern is that it might affect the good relations between Thailand and Australia, especially the people to people relations," Saksee Phromyothi, minister-counsellor at the Royal Thai Embassy, said.

"We consider this an issue matter of national security... because the royal family, the monarchy, in our constitution is above politics."

Thailand's ambassador designate Kriangsak Kittichaisaree has also written to ABC managing director Mark Scott to complain about the programme which could breach Thailand's lese-majeste laws which prohibit criticism of the royals.

"I regret that an organisation of the ABC's stature has lowered its own standard by airing the said documentary which is presented in a manner no different from tabloid journalism," he wrote.

The programme, which aired late Tuesday, was broadcast on the state-funded station only in Australia and cannot be viewed over the Internet outside the country.

But Thailand's diplomatic missions in Australia say they have received complaints about the programme on the monarchy -- which Kittichaisaree said was "the soul" of the nation and cherished by Thais from all walks of life.

"I presume that once you have decided to put this hyper-sensitive programme on air, a protest letter like mine, which I hope you will seriously heed, should come as no surprise," Kittichaisaree wrote to Scott.

"I strongly express both resentment and disappointment with the poor decision you have made."

The ABC could not immediately be reached for comment. But a report in the Australian newspaper said the ABC had effectively shut down its Bangkok office, sending its local staff home until further notice.

A spokesman for Australia's Department for Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed that Thai embassy officials had complained about the ABC programme and noted that the Thai monarchy was a much revered institution.

"However, the Australian government does not and cannot control content run by Australian media organisations," he told AFP.

Breaking Thailand's rules on the monarchy have seen prison sentences of up to 18 years handed down, and Australian writer Harry Nicolaides was in 2009 sentenced to three years in jail under the law over a self-published novel.

4 comments:

Anonymous
said...

Good on you ABC. You have done a good work. Why is so secret?. If you are a good person why hide the truth ?.Thai king is a person so if he has done bad things so what?. The public should see the programe that what I think anyway. We are living in free and fair world if ABC aired the story, ABC should not apologise to Thailand.Excellent effort ABC.

It is a very good documentary. It is very critical of the King, not just from the ABC reporter but from some Thais who are not afraid to speak out. It is ridiculous that the Thai embassy in Australia is looking for ways to sue the ABC. The current political problems stemmed from the Thai king who took side with Abhisit and tried to kick Thaksin out of the country and then tried to prevent him from returning to Thailand because Thaksin his more popular than him (king). The king is afraid of Thaksin's popularity.

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